Many building panels which are produced from gypsum (calcium sulfate dihydrate, landplaster) are commonly utilized in building construction. These panels can be used to construct walls, ceilings, doors, partitions and in many other applications. Other panels commonly used in construction include cement panels and panels made from gypsum and wood fiber.
As described in patents assigned to United States Gypsum Company (Chicago, Ill.), including U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,197,952 and 5,643,510, various methods are known for obtaining gypsum panels. Such methods include those in which gypsum is calcined first. The calcined gypsum is then mixed with water to form a gypsum slurry. Other components can be added to the slurry, including for example, binders, fibers, fillers, surfactants, defoamers, plasticizers, set accelerators and set retarders. The gypsum slurry can be sandwiched between two cover sheets and formed into panels which are then allowed to set. In some applications, at least one cover sheet is paper. Such gypsum panels are referred to as wallboard.
Alternatively, a gypsum slurry can be formulated with fibers and other components and is shaped into a gypsum panel which is allowed to set without the use of cover sheets. Such gypsum panels are known as fiberboards.
Gypsum panels provide many advantages in construction—they are light-weight, yet fire-resistant and easy to install. Gypsum panels can be also formed into various custom shapes and they can be cut to a particular custom size.
Because gypsum panels are used as interior walls and ceilings, there is often a need to attach various objects to the panels such as for example, pictures, paintings, light fixtures, mirrors, speakers, various sensors, smoke alarms, and monitors. Conventionally, attaching an object to a wall or ceiling requires nails, screws or adhesives. Some of such methods and systems are provided in U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,375 assigned to USG Interiors, Inc. After the object is no longer needed and is removed from the gypsum panel or is moved to a new position, the gypsum panel's surface remains damaged with an imperfection left in the place where a nail or screw used to be. Restoring the damaged gypsum panel may require patching a hole, sanding it and then painting over the patch to blend the repaired area with the rest of the gypsum panel. However and even after all these steps, the damaged gypsum panel may still continue to look uneven and discolored, especially if the wall surface was previously decorated. Thus, there is a need for improved ways for attaching various objects to a wall or ceiling without the use of nails or screws or adhesives.